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Rookie is an online magazine and book series for teenagers. Each month, a different editorial theme drives the writing, photography, and artwork that we publish. Learn more about us here, and find out how to submit your work here!

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What do you feel you can do in a song that you can’t do in a short story? I mean, obviously you put it to music, but just in the feeling of putting it down on the page.

With songs, you listen to the lyrics and you know that not all the words and not all the details and not all the exposition have been included—you kind of expect to take leaps of faith. One sentence can illustrate an entire experience or concept in a song, which I think is really cool. There’s a song called “Afterlife” on the new Arcade Fire record—I don’t know if you’ve listened to it yet, but you should, it makes me incredibly happy—and it goes, “After all the breath and the dirt and the fires that burn,” and it takes you right through that idea and extends it, then it snaps you right back: “After all this time, and after all the ambulances go.” It manages to make something huge in that first verse without really saying much at all. That was the last thing I listened to the lyrics of and I was like, Fuck, I am so glad I am in this medium. This is what you can do with it, this is the potential. It rejuvenated me.

So good! I’ve been doing a lot of alternative radio festivals and playing with Phoenix every night and with Arcade Fire for a couple of them. It was so cool, because every night I got to experience dream artists live. Arcade Fire are just on another level. If you ever get a chance to see them, you have to go. Just the energy is like…there are no inhibitions, everyone is just having an amazing time onstage and really letting loose, and for a couple of the best jams from this album they set the disco ball going—I’ve noticed that they only do that in certain moments that feel like you could just lose yourself in and do this kind of dancing [Does noodle-y dancing] and just have such a good time because the grooves are so fantastic. It’s great.

I love hearing you fangirl.

I’m such a fangirl, I know! And then Win was like, “When are you going on? I’m gonna watch your set.” And I was like, I’m gonna die right now.

Have you had moments of just like, “Whoa, my life has come full circle”?

Definitely. I don’t want to do the weird name-dropping thing, but like–

Do it.

Meeting David Bowie was like that. To have someone like that tell you that listening to you felt like listening to tomorrow.

OH MY GOD.

I was like…I could creatively die and just be happy forever. I never tell anyone about that experience, because it meant so much to me, and I feel like it would be dulled or something if I always talked about it in magazines or whatever. It’s my special thing.

Do you want us to not include it in this?

Oh, I mean, it’s OK. It was super cute, though—for some reason we were holding hands and just staring into each other’s eyes and talking, and I was like, This is David Bowie’s hand, what am I doing? It was insane. A beautiful moment.

I’m also really inspired by a band like Phoenix, because they make pop music too, but they exist in this kind of incredible realm that I’m very interested in. Their live show is perfectly simple and easy to understand and they have confetti cannons and all that, but it’s inspiring to me in ways that I don’t even fully understand. It’s one of those shows where you just have waves of stuff wash over you—you experience the sound and they use backgrounds and lights to put you in this visual world, and then about two-thirds of the way through, this huge, amazing mountain comes up behind them and you hear the crowd go [gasps]. So cool.

Can you talk to me about Kanye, who I know you’ve said you love? What do you love about him?

First of all, I just really like the music that he makes, apart from anything else. I’ve been listening to it since I was a little kid. I think his ability to evolve from album to album and still make something that I think is really incredible is super cool. That’s way harder to do than people think. I heard someone say that Kanye will do something first, and everyone will think it’s weird until six months later, when everyone else is doing it. So Kanye kind of takes the fall by being the pioneer. Like with 808s and Heartbreak, everyone was like, “We don’t understand this.” And then Kanye kind of predicted something but because he was the first one, people thought it was weird. I love how he is just such a single human being—he seems to not have much creative dependence. He just seems so at one with who he is creatively and that is really admirable, I think. And then, just as a performer, I often find myself telling people, “Can we just make this a little bit more like a Kanye performance?” [Laughs] I was on Jools Holland the same week as him, and he did this performance of “Bound 2” with Charlie Wilson. I saw three minutes of it, and to this day it was the best musical performance I’ve ever seen. His dedication to the classic nature of a single person on a stage, as a performer, I find really inspiring.

I mean, it’s one thing for kids who fight in the comments section of YouTube and who use “gay” as an insult to take offense at what you’re doing; but when it’s highly intelligent writers, all of whom you respect, you start to question what you’re doing and if you have done something wrong. I have grown up in a time when rap music is pop music, and I do think people were maybe a little bit selective about the parts of that song they used to make those arguments, because a lot of it is examples of rock excess, or just standard pop culture “rich kids of Instagram”-type excess. But I’m glad that people are having discussions about it and informing me about it. Also, I wrote that song a few months into being 15, and now I’m a 17-year-old looking back on that, and I didn’t know then what I know now, so I kind of am not too hard on myself.

she’s crazy awesome,man.i remember listening to her ep a really long time ago(i’m not a hipster about it though,i just got into it earlier,whatever) and i was SO SO SO happy that she blew up.when i was listening to her i was like where is this gonna go?where will she end up? and the fact that she is where she is makes me feel slightly proud.

runitssJanuary 2nd, 20144:12 PM

oh, man. gr8 interview. really solid. i’ve been looking forward to this for months (ever since tavi posted a photo of her with lorde on instagram [that’s not stalkerish to say, is it…?]), and now it’s happened, and it’s great and SO well-done.

LoganJanuary 2nd, 20144:14 PM

YAAAAAAAAAAAAS

carolinedarlingJanuary 2nd, 20144:21 PM

love lorde.

intergalactic forkJanuary 2nd, 20144:22 PM

in love with this interview! i love that we can see another side of her, this interview is awesomely unique in that way!

IsilJanuary 2nd, 20144:34 PM

Two geniuses. It was amazing to read.

shelleyJanuary 2nd, 20144:42 PM

This is the best interview I have ever read in my life! As if Tavi and Lorde are friends I need to hang out with them

herdinthehallsJanuary 2nd, 20146:43 PM

I was thinking the same thing!

Bianca ValentinoJanuary 2nd, 20144:45 PM

This is the BEST interview I have read with Lorde yet. So great Tavi! Love the art/photo too, kudos to you Minna & Petra.

honorarygilmoregalJanuary 2nd, 20144:46 PM

Okay, I haven’t read this interview yet, but it’s Tavi interviewing Lorde so it’s bound to be awesome <3

midwesternmisfitJanuary 2nd, 20145:12 PM

incredibly thoughtful and relatable interview. I had to reality check myself when Tavi wrote that listening to Lorde “feels like driving with shadows shifting across your face, quiet and thoughtful, in a car full of rowdier friends.” …such a fucking perfect and true sentence.

AWESOME JOB ROOKIE AND LORDE!!!!! You inspire me.

ladyjennaJanuary 2nd, 20148:00 PM

That sentence is my high school lyfe fyi

whodatgalJanuary 4th, 201411:36 AM

yes so true

AaliyahJanuary 2nd, 20145:15 PM

I think this is so great Lorde is so real shes not trying to be what the corrupt music industry is telling her to be. That is so important because in this world people will constantly try to tear down who you are and form you into this fictional hybrid of a “perfect being”. Which is totally damaging and harmful to society, but Lorde is redefining this by not morphing who she is for the sake of “making sales”. I am really glad that she is putting her talented music out there and saying you can do what you love and be yourself.

tiger1i1yJanuary 2nd, 20145:20 PM

Tavi and Lorde seem to get along really well and I got such good vibes when I was reading. Also, Lorde *heart eyes* I’m such a fan.

flochaJanuary 2nd, 20145:31 PM

Oh my god I related to this all so much. I was reading it so intensely that I didn’t realise my brother was singing to himself for like five minutes my love for Tavi and lorde has just quadrupled.

droppingdaisiesJanuary 2nd, 20145:34 PM

i was seriously anxiously awaiting this interview ever since you tweeted about it. DEFINITELY WORTH THE WAIT TAVI THIS IS AMAZING. i’m a BIG BIG fan of both rookie and lorde, and this is honestly the best lorde interview i’ve seen. your questions were a+++ wow. awesomeeee job!!

I LOVED this interview. It made me remember how happy I am that both Rookie and Lorde exist.
Some of what Tavi said before the questions was so beautiful and lovely, especially the shadows part.

irismonsterJanuary 2nd, 20145:57 PM

i love lorde so much. she is my second favorite human being (beyonce first, but she doesn’t really count because she’s a goddess, who are we kidding) and i can’t get over the fact that there is finally a pop artist who represents my demographic. and i’m like 97% sure that her hair is a beautiful alien from planet Venus. and the music is so beautiful and the other day i was with my friends and i was like “so my mom bought pure heroine” and i got like a million side-eyes from people who didn’t know the album. love.

irismonsterJanuary 2nd, 20146:02 PM

PS the shelley duvall video… omg. i’ve only seen her in the shining but she’s so fantastic.

paige.xoJanuary 2nd, 20146:02 PM

i just died, and due to being dead, i can’t really think of anything articulate to say, so um !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~happy emoji~

GreerJanuary 2nd, 20146:08 PM

this is easily the best interview with lorde I’ve read, and it just has to be because one of her peers is asking the questions, and not aiming to make her appear in any certain way.

also, just one thing i noticed –
“What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned about songwriting through all of this? Do you have any rules for yourself?”
I think that’s a question from Tavi, but it’s not in bold or in a new line :)

AnaheedJanuary 2nd, 20146:21 PM

Thank you!

Laia GarciaJanuary 2nd, 20146:11 PM

i love this!!! i always knew she was one of us ONE OF US ONE OF US

littlediamondsJanuary 2nd, 20146:16 PM

I was like almost dying of anticipation since you tweeted about this interview(and for some reason ever since i knew what this month’s theme was i had a feeling Lorde would be involved)! And when i saw it had 11 pages i started to run around the house doing weird dance moves until i catched my mom staring at me. I just really really like Lorde. Her music is AMAZING in so many ways – i’ve probably heard Pure Heroine almost 20 times so far (and by that i mean the whole album, ’cause my favorite songs like “Glory and Gore” and “Buzzcut Season” are on repeat ALL THE TIME). So when i discovered you were going to interview her i was super happy! And it was perfect and TOTALLY worth the wait. She’s just so smart and interesting and still really down to earth. The fact that she likes Taylor made me smile so hard because, like, argh. Taylor is incredible! Anyway, i just really loved the whole thing – and the way you conduced, Tavi, was super awesome.

dandelionsJanuary 2nd, 20146:41 PM

This is not an interview, this a conversation between two amazing and smart girls, who show that being a teenager doesn’t mean to be ignorant or irrelevant, like some adults claim all the time. Love this, I wish I had friends like this in my early teenage.

EileenJanuary 2nd, 20146:51 PM

I love lorde, P.S. My seven year old sister thinks that line from royals is, “you can call me green bean” I think thats supes profound

dandelionsJanuary 2nd, 20149:45 PM

Hahahahaha, you make me laugh. Thanks.

kleksJanuary 2nd, 20146:59 PM

It’s sad that she seems a little self-consious of her lyrics to Royals. That song is brilliant and she had something really great to say. I feel that people were really unfair in scrutinizing her lyrics and picking them apart to mean what they felt would cause drama and make them look like heroins for pointing it out (racism?!). Young girls (and adult women) should speak their minds and express themselves without the fear of being so quickly questioned, misunderstood, and judged. I hope she stands proud behind the song that won her so much attention and success. It was for a reason. Because it was NOT racist, just really smart and sincere, from the perspective of a girl who grows up among those powerful images and sexist lyrics. Those same critics give all that sexist music a pass, because it’s so much easier to pick on “a little girl” than the tough guy.

Chloe22January 3rd, 201410:49 AM

I totally agree! Every female artist nowadays has to constantly bend and twist her songs just so they’re understandable or ”correct” to everyone. Lorde’s lyrics have never seemed problematic to me, but, say, Robin Thicke? Blurred Lines was a rape culture anthem! And the only people I heard complaining about it was women on feminist blogs (which is totally fine, but why doesn’t the rest of the world care?). Guys never have to explain, but girls and women have to make everything palatable to everyone else.

MollieJanuary 2nd, 20147:04 PM

shelley duvall used to do this storybook theater show for kids; i watched it with my grandma. a lot of the clips are from that.

lyssagrltxJanuary 2nd, 20147:09 PM

OMG!!! THIS IS SO PERFECT I CAN’T HANDLE MYSELF IT’S SO PERFECT!! IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY THAT SHE’S A ROOKIE AND A FEMINIST! THAT’S SO AMAZING!!!

artobsessedJanuary 2nd, 20147:12 PM

YAY for teenage girls everywhere unleashing their awesomeness upon us all

Eleanor HardwickJanuary 2nd, 20147:13 PM

this makes me so happy and emotional and i’m CRYING SO MUCH. this interview says so much. teen girls represent represent!!!!!!!!!!!!

SophoJanuary 2nd, 20147:27 PM

Ahh! I just had to comment prematurely because I just read the bit where Lorde said that you should make something that means something to you and then other people will be able to live inside it and understand it. That’s exactly what her album was like for me. There were so many perfect moments like ‘we ride the bus with our knees pulled in’ which were like me living in Lorde’s world but also like inhabiting my own memories in this beautiful way. Her album means so much to me in a way that I never expected from any album. Thank you!

beetziebatJanuary 2nd, 20147:47 PM

i absolutely love love love this !!!!<3

ChristiJanuary 2nd, 20148:07 PM

Lorde and Tavi both inspire me, especially as a writer. They are both extremely intelligent and impressive young women. Not only that, but they are true to themselves. I really look up to them!!! In other words…thank you so much for this interview! :)

ReginechassangelJanuary 2nd, 20148:27 PM

I really love that Zooey Deschanel quote about hearing so much criticism about other people which makes you not want to put yourself out there. I’ve spent a lot of time reading stupid internet music reviews which made me really pessimistic about music for a while but I’m trying to get out of that place and start writing music without judging myself too much. I’m also so happy Lorde’s a rookie!! We were all talking about her at the Rookie Yearbook Two party I went to (on December 7 in Chicago) and I was wondering if she was One of Us. Also I really really love the desolate neon suburban vibe and the Virgin Suicides vibe and all the vibes of the suburbs ever since I heard Arcade Fire in sixth grade and it’s so cool to see lorde exploring that.

honorarygilmoregalJanuary 2nd, 20148:31 PM

Okay, now I’ve read the interview, and I loved it. Such a great conversation between two fantastic people :) Now I admire Lorde more than I already did.

connie.January 2nd, 20148:31 PM

Love love love this. Also, Tavi, I am pretty sure I read the same passage on functional shifts on the ACT.

anaisabel13January 2nd, 20148:46 PM

Definitely the best interview with Lorde I’ve read! The fact that it’s a conversation between peers gets the point across so much better (the point being, well, Lorde). I just want everyone on the face of this earth to read this and like, realize that teenagerdom isn’t synonymous with ignorance. Love love love love.

MaddieMaeJanuary 2nd, 20148:49 PM

I’ve always loved Lorde and her music, but reading this interview has made me develop a deeper appreciation because she’s just so honest, and the interview wasn’t written by an old man who just doesn’t get it. Thanks!

monalisaJanuary 2nd, 20149:03 PM

i thought my life was complete with the tavi and emma watson interview but i when i saw this today i flipped out quite badly for at least 10 minutes

rockwrenrollJanuary 2nd, 20149:20 PM

oh god my favorite teenagers ever, coming together, making my life complete. aren’t they both 17? i was way shitty at 17, these girls are so wonderful

sungiantJanuary 2nd, 20149:35 PM

Holy Shit you don’t even know how envious but excited I was when I saw that photo of Lorde with David Bowie AND Tilda wow.
That makes me so happy for you that you heard those words come from David Bowie’s mouth and into your face. BEAUTIFUL.

LilyBJanuary 2nd, 20149:42 PM

YES FAVORITE PEOPLE LORDE AND TAVI. THIS IS A GIFT FROM THE GODS!!!!!!

o-girlJanuary 2nd, 20149:49 PM

eeee i admire u guys so much !!!! i think u guys are great i will (btw) rule the world 2

Lucy23January 2nd, 20149:52 PM

This is casually the best thing I have ever read and I’ve been DYING to read to this ever since tavi mentioned the sleepover at the New Yokrer Festival ( ps tavi I hope you liked the copy of Little Women and the necklace I gave you :) )

DamnfinecupofcoffeeJanuary 2nd, 20149:53 PM

Such a rad interview!!! Tavi you killed it :) your questions are always so thoughtful and insightful. I love Lorde and this interview definitely inspired me to develop my creativity.

MorganJanuary 2nd, 201410:29 PM

ughh that pic of the two of you guys. brings a tear to me eye, it does. <3 <3 xoxo

lizabethJanuary 2nd, 201410:40 PM

She is so rad and so real–I just want to be bff’s with her

lydiameridaJanuary 2nd, 201411:14 PM

*cat with heart eyes emoji*

daisyauthorityJanuary 2nd, 201411:20 PM

I haven’t read the interview yet but Lorde+Rookie = happiness and I’m exploding a bit inside right now.

greatgabzeeJanuary 2nd, 201411:36 PM

amazing interview, she seems so sincere and honest.

clairemiraJanuary 2nd, 201411:44 PM

REALLY sorry to be *that* person but on page 2 it should be “hard thing to bear” not “bare”.

This is so amazing though guys, and it was awesome to hear how inspired Ella was by Arcade Fire, because I remember finding their video for ‘The Suburbs’ so eerily poignant and resonant, but not having anyone to share the love with <3

AnaheedJanuary 3rd, 201412:03 AM

I think she means literally a hard thing to show — at least that’s how I interpreted it.

clairemiraJanuary 3rd, 201412:22 AM

Eek sorry you’re definitely right, I should have read that one more closely!

AnaheedJanuary 3rd, 20141:12 AM

No problem! I tripped over it at first too because “hard to bear” is such a common phrase.

homersquishJanuary 3rd, 201412:57 AM

Haha~!

I read in an interview that Ella was friends with Tavi, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before this happened.

Also, LORDE YEY~! *heart eyes*

monalisaJanuary 3rd, 20141:42 AM

oh and that photo? i put it in my yearbook shrine holy guacamole

kellieJanuary 3rd, 20143:00 AM

this was so inspiring! reading it made me happy to be alive and excited to create! xx

nizmocatJanuary 3rd, 20143:10 AM

this makes me so happy, reading intelligent but also TEENAGE GIRL conversation from my two favourite people who are also my age i just dsaklfjekwlja
YOU GUYS <3 <3 <3

ClaireeeJanuary 3rd, 20143:32 AM

I just recently discovered Rookie, and had been reading various articles on the site. And then I see Ella posting about Rookie magazine on her Instagram, bringing me to this article, and I think I just about died of happiness. This was so nice to read, as a conversation between Ella and Tavi. I’d love to be friends with either of them. :)

ellouiseJanuary 3rd, 20146:57 AM

What incredible role models. This article really hit home with me and struck a chord, as well as making me find myself nodding along like a bobble head during the entire article. Despite the pair making me feel entirely inadequate as a fellow 17 year old haha, I love that the have the platform and the views to make a really positive difference, and make me very proud/excited to be in the same generation.
Please, the both of you, keep doing what you’re doing!!!

crapbagJanuary 3rd, 20147:00 AM

Man I can imagine how Ella would have felt being interviewed by Tavi, growing up reading her and whatnot it would be humbling as heck for this to happen! It sounds like Rookie had a pretty big hand in rounding her fem views, it must be equally humbling for you guys to be like interviewing one of your seedlings all grown up!! ~

NomaliJanuary 3rd, 20147:12 AM

YAS ~ Kim-Kardashian-is-emotional-and-has-so-many-tears collage ~

julalondonJanuary 3rd, 20148:03 AM

Both you girls are such an inspiration. This is one of the best things i’ve ever read in my entire life.

diniada13January 3rd, 20148:08 AM

PRAISE THE LORDE!!!!!! HSSKSHSNXJCJCJBJCI
so i just recently discovered lorde and I instantly fell in love with her music and her performance. Sometimes I don’t really understand her lyrics, but I can feel the beauty and freshness in it, and once I get it I can relate and I get so happy about it? And this interview just shows us that shes one of us, like she’s a friend of ours that suddenly got famous. Everything about this interview is perfect and nothing hurtz!!!! Tavi+Lorde= ♡♡♡♡♡

sorryimoutofgoodurls.blogspot.com

ThalitaJanuary 3rd, 20148:52 AM

This whole thing about listening to a musical genre and then switching suddenly to other is really interesting. Sometimes when I listen to indie it’s the only thing I want to listen, so I sort of isolate myself from pop and others, like Ella said when she started to listen to Ke$ha and then started to listen to Grizzly Bear and others. I really like Lorde’s style and Rookie is amazing!

ellamayJanuary 3rd, 20149:01 AM

She’s literally one of my favorite artists and it’s because of the fact that she’s not afraid to be different and have her own sense of fashion style which may seem a bit boring and odd but in truth, she has this really goth, old-fashioned attractive kind of fashion style combined. Rookie should definitely have more of her!

And I’m proud to share the same name as her, lol.

Ella

Annie eJanuary 3rd, 20149:30 AM

Fabulous interview. I know it’s probably not much comfort to anyone in middle or high school, but if you dress weird as a teen and people make fun of you, you’ll get stopped by street style bloggers as an adult. I’m in my mid-20s and this has been my experience!

mangointheskyJanuary 3rd, 20149:43 AM

THIS IS OFFICIALLY MY FAVORITE POST EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EtimaJanuary 3rd, 20149:44 AM

i like so much about this interview i can’t pinpoint anything particular. i love lorde’s music and thought processing and tavi’s too and this just feels so intimate and at the same time really open. it’s very…i really really like this. ok, off to listen to pure heroine now.

chawiJanuary 3rd, 20149:48 AM

Lorde is just… amazing, and the fact that her and Tavi are friends (I’m so jealous!!)

Julianne Escobedo ShepherdJanuary 3rd, 20149:56 AM

I am going to teach this piece in my class next semester. <3

cloudintheskyJanuary 3rd, 201410:37 AM

I love Ella and Tavi! What a great interview! <3

lexilikesJanuary 3rd, 201410:53 AM

This is amazing. A perfect interview UGH <3

piisaaJanuary 3rd, 201411:00 AM

This interview is so awesome, It’s just a pleasure to read. Lorde + Tavi equals pure awesomeness. LUV THIS.

ellamccartneyJanuary 3rd, 201411:26 AM

this makes me so so happy I love you both!!!!!!! best interview

Sorcha MJanuary 3rd, 201412:10 PM

im just so glad that tavi and lorde exist and make beautiful and cool things

emlybJanuary 3rd, 201412:34 PM

IS THIS EVEN REAL OMFFFFFFFFFFG THIS WaS eXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED RN I LOVE LORDE OMG <3333333333333

GwendolenJanuary 3rd, 201412:36 PM

Egh. Tavi and Lorde in one conversation. How is so much perfection able to exist? I feel this interview sort of exemplifies our age as (as so many people have pointed out) it works so well because they’re both 17. They are both highly intelligent and intellectual individuals who know how to use words so what they say is of such a profound quality but it just sounds like a conversation and not an interview. The best part is that Lorde asks Tavi stuff as well.

peachJanuary 3rd, 201412:42 PM

I smiled through this whole interview!! Every other line I was like “YES, ME, I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!” I really appreciate how down-to-earth she is, too. askdjf;af it just makes me really happy that someone I would totally get along with has made it. aaaah

MattieJanuary 3rd, 20141:42 PM

I love this interview. The thing that makes Rookie interviews different than interviews in other magazines and publications is that the interviews are like conversations, and they actually make you feel present. It’s almost as if I’m just there sitting and listening to you and Lorde talking, and I’m just dying to get a word in edgewise, but the great thing about interviews like this one with Lorde and your interviews with Emma Watson and Sofia Coppola, are that they aren’t glossy. They’re like a garden that starts off with some soil and than builds and builds to these amazing and intriguing philosophies and the interviews give the interviewee a chance to talk about something more substantial, and certainly more relatable. I’m the same age as both you and Lorde, so what makes this interview special is that you guys talk about what inspires you, discourages you. No other magazines or publications really touch on the truth about teenagers- and certainly not the media. I love the fact that I feel like a peer of you and Lorde, as opposed to just a fan, and while I am a fan of both of you and admire you very much- this interview breaks down a wall where it’s okay to be a goofy teen who likes to talk about hair, and Kurt Vonnegut at the same time. It’s absolutely REMARKABLE to me because now I have a list of new music to explore, books to read, and movies to watch, just from this interview! So just…. Thank you Tavi and Lorde for being as you are!

anna eveJanuary 3rd, 20142:22 PM

This interview is just so amazing and beautiful and honest and aaaaagggghhhh it’s just so perfect!!! Thanks Rookie for doing brilliant interviews like this! <3

maddiJanuary 3rd, 20144:04 PM

Y I P P E E ! I fangirled the fuck out. Just such a candid yet considered interview between two beautiful ladies I relate/aspire to completely. A+ Rookie, ya done good.

sloththefifthJanuary 3rd, 20145:29 PM

This is honestly one of the greatest things I’ve read in a long while. I started crying around page 5 and had to take a break to dance to Patti Smith and just feel all the feelings. Thank you Rookie and Tavi and Lorde for existing xoxoxoxo

llamalinaJanuary 3rd, 20145:30 PM

I think this is definitely one of my favorite things I’ve ever read on Rookie and this interview was just fantastic and inspiring and fabulous and I hope there’s waaaaaay more Tavi/Lorde collabs in the future because y’all are perfect

JesJanuary 3rd, 20146:35 PM

WE LOVE YOU, LORDE!

<3 <3 <3
The Rookies

SophiiJanuary 3rd, 20147:30 PM

Ah man, I have never felt more proud to ~be a rookie. I love the things Lorde says about Bowie and James and that she’s chosen to share them with us. This was so amazing that half way through I went back to the beginning to take notes on the cultural references and best pieces of advice ahaha :’) It makes me super happy that there are people like Lorde and Tavi out there to represent our generation <3 <3 <3

lunaticbeingsJanuary 3rd, 20147:33 PM

i think that this interview is so great because it’s so personal. the are so close in age (the same age? not sure) and are both involved in creative things, and most of all it seems like they really do like each other, and it feels like that makes such a difference. I LOVE YOU TWO SO MUCH

MacaJanuary 3rd, 20149:01 PM

Best interview ever, laughed out loud a bunch of times. I love that Tavi and Lorde are just people my age who are into the same vibes that I am and made it big doing what they wanted to do. Very inspirational.

MRJanuary 3rd, 201410:45 PM

Amazing!! Ever since I first heard Lorde, I thought it would be awesome for Tavi to interview her!

Oh and that Shelley Duvall video is clips from Fairytale Theatre, which was an 80s show of fairy tale plays. It was like one of the only things my mom would let us check out at the library and I think I’ve seen all of them. I had a major nostalgic flashback watching that! :D

princessleiaJanuary 4th, 20142:31 AM

first of all, i love lorde. this is one of my favorite articles on rookie, and possibly my favorite thing…ever. the fact that she cringed at the mention of her tumblr reference is so great <33

dragonflyJanuary 4th, 20143:14 AM

I’ve been wishing for an interaction between two of the best people in the world for a long time, and now it’s come true and I just ahuidhwaejkfhewrf this make me feel so much <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

JoyceJanuary 4th, 20146:38 AM

this interview is sooooo long. but i read it anyway because i love the both you.

GlitterKittyJanuary 4th, 20149:16 AM

OMG this is so amazing….. AHHHHHHH. I can’t even say anything remotely intelligent about it because I’m just so overwhelmed…. I love Lorde, love her music… Wow. And I think her hair is so awesome and cool and I wish my hair would do that.

whodatgalJanuary 4th, 201412:37 PM

yay i am so happy @ this- firstly i totally get the whole thing about interviewers doin the (for ex.) : “whilst she’s attending fashion shows all weekend, on monday it’s back to her history homework” -im 14 now but when i was 11 i started a ‘fashion’ blog that got a bit of media attention up to the christmas of 2012 & abit throughout 2013 too. in interviews i often heard the: ‘blogging whilst doing her homework thing’ or these ‘she’s a kid but an adult’ comparisons which were totally unoriginal eugh- in one interview they completely miss-quoted (12 yr old) me & wrote ‘the next in line after tavi but she’s in complete adoration- “i love tavi she’s my fave chic” she squeals!’ i was like ew i didnt squeal & when did i say the term fave chic? tavi has been super important to me throughout my teen years 4 various reasons (2 do wiv influence, following & the weird connection you feel thru the internet wiv people you ‘love’ but the way they took wat i probably said out of context & made it sound really shallow or kind of frivolous and fangirly fustrated me!! -secondly i also tried to be super alternative when i was younger. i had never tried pizza but didn’t eat it or say i liked it until i was like 10, because i thought i was cool. and i had never read any of the harry potters but i said i hated them to be ‘not like everyone else’ omg i was such a cringey kid / probably still am lol … and the rest of this interview is just beyond dreamy and so much relatable stuff yay

Oh wow! I wasn’t a fan of her before I read this, but this interview surely proved to me that she is not stupid at all and actually very interesting.
Still, her musical genre is not really my taste, but her opinions and such are so amazing to read and think about!

Also can this interview please be in the next Rookie Yearbook, haha.

sparklingbutterflyJanuary 5th, 201412:29 AM

The part about what’s soothing when feeling upset resonated with me. Lately I have been incredibly frustrated with myself for not being able to channel my sadness/boredness/general lost-ness into poems, journal entries, songs, etc. I just want to sit on my ass watching Bomb Girls and reading rookie. I’m so relieved to see that Tavi and Lorde go through this too and this uncreative period of time doesn’t have to feel permanent or a mark of failure. I remember Amanda Palmer performed a song she said was the first she wrote after a long string of depression. It’s great that even though this period feels shitty now, it too shall pass.

rhymeswithorangeJanuary 5th, 20144:05 AM

Hell yes!!! Two of my favorite ladies chattin’ it up. What a great read. Super good questions Tavi, this is 10000 times more insightful than typical Lorde interviews! Also, I love how much she talks about Arcade Fire, my fave band, so much love <3

getthedriftJanuary 5th, 20145:36 AM

Thank you for this interview, it is so awesome !
I just wanted to react about this part:
“I’ve had that as well, and it’s so much worse in pop music, because there’s such a stigma to [the genre]—as soon as you make pop music, what you do isn’t art and it’s not real and it’s a product of old people or whatever. It doesn’t mean anything. Don’t worry about those people.”
I must say that when i saw Lorde on the top 40, i was quite shocked and i told myself “well, in fact she’s just a commercial singer”, and that’s completly false, but we’re so used to see only commercial music on tops and stuff that we associate music on tops with commercial music. only a few real artists get popular (like Macklemore). I know that’s real bad, and i’ll pay attention now, so thanks a lot for your interview!
P.S.: sorry for my english, i’m french so i may have done some mistakes…

NadifaJanuary 5th, 20147:50 AM

Probabaly the best interview of Ella’s. There’s just nothing pointless in this.

andreasoyesJanuary 5th, 20146:04 PM

Amazing, been waiting for ages to read this type of interview with Lorde, i’m just so interested in what she likes, what she thinks and what she’s like because sometimes it’s a bit difficult to actually realise these people are your age and do the same things as you but (shocking) they are! so yeah this was all kinds of wonderful and I can’t wait to see Lorde live on march. Greeting from Chile.

madame_addieJanuary 5th, 20147:07 PM

thank you so much for this!!! you two are my heroes <3

kenny22January 5th, 20148:17 PM

lorde is my queen ok

camilawilaJanuary 5th, 201411:11 PM

This was fantastic. Almost cried a few times… These girls GET ME!
Sidenote: I love Lorde’s reference to Broken Social Scene in her song Ribs, that’s definitely my favourite song by her!

IdonotknowJanuary 6th, 201411:31 AM

This is really nice – I think it’s amazing how we’re all bonded by Rookie… My appreciation for Lorde just got higher I LUV THIS INTERVIEW!! Tavi did a great job!! Everyone did!!! This is really awesome. I really wish and hope Amanda Palmer (she’s a reader too!! haha) would get interviewed next or some time. that would be beyond GREATNESS — please do XD

frumpmasterJanuary 6th, 201410:24 PM

Such a great interview, I love Lorde’s music :) She’s amazing, and so real and down to earth and its awesome to read. Thanks Rookie!!

NadineJanuary 7th, 20142:09 PM

This was such an honest piece to read, and just incredibly refreshing. Thank you Tavi and Ella, you guys are beyond wonderful.

MacaJanuary 7th, 20149:10 PM

I was re-reading a couple of old interviews and I can’t believe how much they’ve improved! Or maybe it was Lorde or the fact that they had a lot of things in common, anyway; awesome work.

unrulygirlJanuary 12th, 20142:30 PM

Wow this was just such a great interview… I had seen other Lorde interviews before, but in this one she just seemed so relaxed and just herself:)

P.catherineJanuary 14th, 20145:13 AM

<3 Lorde. <3 Tavi. There's nothing more to say.

_dith_January 24th, 201411:46 PM

This interview is so cool. Tavi and Lorde are both teenage girls with real jobs that take up a lot of their time. To hear them banter back and forth about how they balance their busy, celeb lives is awesome.

ZoëMarch 24th, 20141:10 PM

Lorde is so amazing! This interview made me really happy because Tavi and Lorde are two of my idols. They just talked about stuff I really wanted someone to address like navigating the mainstream and annoying people that discredit your taste if you like anything that plays on the radio.